Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-9pm4c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T15:25:27.144Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Insiders, Outsiders, and Credible Visitors in Research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 October 2022

Alesha Porisky  and
Aarie Glas Open the ORCID record for Aarie Glas [Opens in a new window]
Alesha Porisky
Affiliation:
Northern Illinois University, USA
Aarie Glas
Affiliation:
Northern Illinois University, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

There is a growing consensus around both the importance of researcher positionality for the conduct of research and the intersectional and variable salience of positionality and its effects. However, at the same time, static assumptions of “insider” and “outsider” status prevail. This article presents a productive and two-fold intervention in these discussions. First, we show that the insider/outsider distinction is fraught on logistical and conceptual grounds. Relying on our experiences in conducting interview research from rural villages to diplomatic offices, we show that these elements of status are fluid and dynamic. Second, we suggest an alternative to this dichotomy through the aspirational status of a “credible visitor.” We define this as a performative aspect of positionality founded on humility and reflexivity and enacted through showcasing competence and engaging in transparency. We describe how this approach to performing status may facilitate access as well as fruitful and ethical research interactions.

Type
Article
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 56 , Issue 1 , January 2023 , pp. 51 - 55
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Political Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Barrett, Michèle, and McIntosh, Mary. 1985. “Ethnocentrism and Socialist–Feminist Theory.” Feminist Review 20 (1): 23–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berger, Roni. 2015. “Now I See It, Now I Don’t: Researcher’s Position and Reflexivity in Qualitative Research.” Qualitative Research 15 (2): 219–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blix, Bodil Hansen. 2015. “‘Something Decent to Wear’: Performances of Being an Insider and an Outsider in Indigenous Research.” Qualitative Inquiry 21:175–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bouka, Yolande. 2015. “Researching Violence in Africa as a Black Woman: Notes from Rwanda.” Field Research and Ethics in Difficult Settings, Working Paper Series. http://conflictfieldresearch.colgate.edu/working-papers/researcher-positionality.Google Scholar
Cammett, Melani. 2013. “Using Proxy Interviewing to Address Sensitive Topics.” In Interview Research in Political Science, ed. Mosley, Layna, 125–43. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Collins, Patricia Hill. 1986. “Learning from the Outsider Within: The Sociological Significance of Black Feminist Thought.” Social Problems 33 (6): S14–S32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dew, Angela, McEntyre, Elizabeth, and Vaughan, Priya. 2019. “Taking the Research Journey Together: The Insider and Outsider Experiences of Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Researchers.” Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research 20 (1) Art. 19.Google Scholar
Dwyer, Sonya Corbin, and Buckle, Jennifer L.. 2009. “The Space Between: On Being an Insider–Outsider in Qualitative Research.” International Journal of Qualitative Methods 8 (1): 54–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flores, David. 2018. “Standing in the Middle: Insider/Outsider Positionality While Conducting Qualitative Research with Opposing Military Veteran Political Groups.” SAGE Research Methods Cases. www.doi.org/10.4135/9781526437181.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fujii, Lee Ann. 2013. “Working with Interpreters.” In Interview Research in Political Science, ed. Mosley, Layna, 144–58. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Fujii, Lee Ann. 2017. Relational Interviewing: An Interpretive Approach to Social Science Research. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Glas, Aarie. 2021. “Power, Positionality, and Positions of Power: Reflexivity in Elite Interviewing.” PS: Political Science & Politics 54 (3): 438–42.Google Scholar
Henderson, Francis B. 2009. “‘We Thought You Would Be White’: Race and Gender in Fieldwork.” PS: Political Science & Politics 42 (2): 291–94.Google Scholar
Hill, Teresa, and Dao, Michael. 2021. “Personal Pasts Become Academic Presents: Engaging Reflexivity and Considering Dual Insider/Outsider Roles in Physical Cultural Fieldwork.” Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise, and Health 13 (3): 521–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holmes, Carolyn E. 2021. “Standing Out and Blending In: Contact-Based Research, Ethics, and Positionality.” PS: Political Science & Politics 54 (3): 443–47.Google Scholar
Kara, Helen. 2017. “Identity and Power in Co-Produced Activist Research.” Qualitative Research 17 (3): 289–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, Eunji, Badrinathan, Sumitra, Choi, Donghyun Danny, Karim, Sabrina, and Zhou, Yang-Yang. 2022. “Navigating ‘Insider’ and ‘Outsider’ Status as Researchers Conducting Field Experiments.” PS: Political Science & Politics, First View: 1–5. DOI:10.1017/S1049096522000208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leech, Beth. 2002. “Asking Questions: Techniques for Semi-Structured Interviews.” PS: Political Science & Politics 35 (4): 665–68.Google Scholar
MacLean, Lauren M. 2013. “The Power of the Interviewer.” In Interview Research in Political Science, ed. Mosley, Layna, 66–83. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Merton, Robert K. 1972. “Insiders and Outsiders: A Chapter in the Sociology of Knowledge.” American Journal of Sociology 78 (1): 9–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Obasi, Chijioke. 2012. “Negotiating the Insider/Outsider Continua: A Black Female Hearing Perspective on Research with Deaf Women and Black Women.” Qualitative Research 14 (1): 61–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parashar, Swati. 2019. “Research Brokers, Researcher Identities, and Affective Performances: The Insider/Outsider Conundrum.” Civil Wars 21 (2): 249–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riessman, Catherine Kohler. 1987. “When Gender Is Not Enough: Women Interviewing Women.” Gender and Society 1 (2): 172–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schatz, Edward. 2009. “Introduction: Ethnographic Immersion and the Study of Politics.” In Political Ethnography: What Immersion Contributes to the Study of Power, ed. Schatz, Edward, 1–22. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sirnate, Vasundhara. 2014. “Positionality, Personal Insecurity, and Female Empathy in Security Studies Research.” PS: Political Science & Politics 47 (2): 398–440.Google Scholar
Soedirgo, Jessica, and Glas, Aarie. 2020. “Toward Active Reflexivity: Positionality and Practice in the Production of Knowledge.” PS: Political Science & Politics 53 (3): 527–31.Google Scholar
Takeda, Atsushi. 2013. “Reflexivity: Unmarried Japanese Male Interviewing Married Japanese Women About International Marriage.” Qualitative Research 13 (3): 285–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tuhiwai Smith, Linda. 2012. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. London: Zed Books.Google Scholar
Welch, Catherine, Marschan-Piekkari, Rebecca, Penttinen, Heli, and Tahvanainen, Marja. 2002. “Corporate Elites as Informants in Qualitative International Business Research.” International Business Review 11:611–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yanow, Dvora. 2009. “Ways of Knowing: Passionate Humility and Reflexive Practice in Research and Management.” American Review of Public Administration 39 (6): 579–601.CrossRefGoogle Scholar